Padma bridge graft still unclear’

Bangladesh’s national corruption watchdog is still not clear about the nature of alleged corruption in the Padma bridge project.

A commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Shahabuddin Chuppu, told reporters on Friday evening that since the World Bank — the organisation levelling the charges — has not yet clarified the nature of corruption. “There is not much one can say about it.”

“The World Bank says there has been corruption in the project. The media is also rife with the news, but it has not been clarified as to what kind of corruption has there been,” Chuppu said.

The corruption watchdog had told the media on Wednesday that it has asked for relevant documents from the global lender’s integrity unit and will launch investigation as soon as it gets the details.

The World Bank had initially pledged to provide $1.2 billion of the $3-billion mega project. However, it has suspended the funding levelling allegations of corruption in appointing a Canadian contractor, SNC Lavalin, which is currently under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.